


15 Years or Less

by expecto_cosmos



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Canon-Compliant, F/M, Fitzsimmons Secret Valentine, Fluff, Marriage, fsvalentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 10:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13679754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/expecto_cosmos/pseuds/expecto_cosmos
Summary: jemmablossom asked for "Fitzsimmon's first Valentine's Day as a married couple." Since I can't resist Academy Era Fitzsimmons, you get two Valentine's Days for the price of one! Hope you enjoy!





	15 Years or Less

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jemmablossom](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=jemmablossom).



[ _Academy_ ]

Fitz heard her before he saw her. He couldn't catch every word, but enough to make it clear what had happened:

"Stupid" and "Ridiculous" and "Immature" and "Humiliating" and, the biggest clue of them all: "Milton."

The words, stuttered out of her in a huff, were punctuated by her increasingly heavy stomps up the stairs to their shared apartment. Fitz winced in preparation as the door flew open and slammed against the wall.

Jemma stormed into the living room where Fitz was watching TV. She was covered in melting snow, face red as a tomato (from the cold or from rage, Fitz wasn't quite sure). The glare on her face was so strong it would have sent Fitz running, if he didn't know for sure that it wasn't - at least this time - directed at him.

"Milton is-" (Jemma whipped her scarf off her neck)

"-by far-" (Off came one boot, which glanced off the wall with an unsatisfying bounce)

"-the most-" (Off came the other boot, which Jemma put her all into this time, knocking into the wall with a solid _thwack_ )

"-selfish-" (She unzipped her coat with such force that Fitz was surprised it didn't shred into ribbons)

"-ARSE-" (She slammed the door with all her might, sending rattling shockwaves through the apartment)

"-in the world!" 

Jemma seemed disappointed there was nothing left to throw.

"Good Valentine's Day to you as well," Fiz quipped, hoping for at least a tiny smirk from Jemma. But there was nothing.

"He dumped me!" Jemma was incredulous. "HE dumped ME!"

"Isn't that what you wanted? To be free of Milton?" Fitz reached over to pause the old episode of Doctor Who he was watching.

"Well-I mean-yes," Jemma sputtered, finally walking further into the apartment. She started pacing around the couch, forcing Fitz to continuously turn to track her movements. "But I was at least going to have the respect - THE RESPECT, FITZ - to wait until after Valentine's Day! And then he does it ON Valentine's Day!"

"Who cares?" Fitz scoffed. "It's a rubbish holiday."

"Well that's what I said! I said we shouldn't do anything special because it was a rubbish holiday, and we hadn't even been dating for that long, and he said I was entirely unromantic and he dumped me. HE dumped ME!"

"Yeah, you mentioned that."

Jemma flopped down at the end of the couch by Fitz's feet, which Fitz tried to discreetly move away from her dripping wet hair.

"Do you think I'm not romantic?" Jemma asked in a small voice, fidgeting with her hands in her lap.

Fitz suddenly felt immensely uncomfortable. "How should I know?" he asked, getting off the couch and wandering into the kitchen. "I'm home alone watching Doctor Who on Valentine's Day, it's not as if I'm an expert at romance myself."

Jemma looked around as if she was seeing the apartment for the first time. "You ARE alone!" She stood up and followed him into the kitchen.

"Gee, thanks," Fitz said wryly.

"No, I don't mean-" Jemma sat down on a stool at the counter. "Sorry. I guess I'm alone too now."

Fitz opened the refrigerator and took out a pizza box. "Eh, not for long, I'm sure." He opened it to present a cold, half-eaten pizza, and held it out to Jemma, gesturing for her to take a slice. She took one and had the slice halfway to her lips when she realized what Fitz had said.

"Wait - what do you mean not for long?"

Fitz chuckled. 'Milton broke up with you, what - twenty minutes ago? With the line-up of people waiting to date you, I'm surprised none of them are outside the apartment with boomboxes over their heads already."

Jemma felt her cheeks flush. "That's not true - is it?"

"Oh, naive little Jemma," Fitz teased, leaning on the counter next to Jemma's seat. "I can name at least five, just off the top of my head. Whether or not they're good enough for you is another question, but maybe that depends on what kind of music they actually play out of their boomboxes-"

"Fitz!" Jemma laughed. "Is that _your_ kind of romance? Lloyd Dobler in a trenchcoat?"

Fitz waggled his eyebrows to make Jemma laugh more. "Oh, who could resist?"

They both laughed and then were silent for a minute, until Jemma asked: "What _would_ you have done? If you had had a Valentine's date?"

"I dunno," Fitz said, grabbing a slice. "Ordered pizza?" He held out the slice to Jemma, who "clinked" hers against his like a glass of champagne. "Not the most romantic though, I guess," he admitted.

"Well," Jemma shrugged, looking at him with a soft smile. Her leg brushed against his under the counter, and she didn't move it away. "It might not be so bad."

\-------------------------------------

[ _Present Day_ ]

They had been together, if not actually _together_ for three Valentine's Days, now approaching their fourth. But it was tough to celebrate when:

1\. Jemma was mourning the death of Will, SHIELD was battling a centuries-old alien, and their only step in the right direction had been a hasty kiss or two in the middle of their lab;

2\. Fitz wasn't really Fitz, trapped inside the Framework, controlled and traumatized by demons of his own creation; and

3\. They had only just escaped space and were on the run from the authorities, all the while trying to avert a disastrous future.

But this time, they at least knew that they _had_ a future. And that future was together.

Just days after returning to the present, Fitzsimmons had gone to the team with a request. As America's Most Wanted fugitives, they couldn't exactly waltz into a government building and secure a marriage license. So, crammed into the back of Hunter's stolen RV, Coulson made Fitzsimmons as official as they could be. And that was enough for them.

And now, almost a year later, the team was enjoying a fleeting moment of calm. They were still, Fitz was certain, on track towards the future they could not change. But for now, he laid in a motel bed, Jemma in his arms, playing with the pawn shop wedding band that adorned her finger. 

"You know, if I could just get into the lab for a half an hour, I could make something so much better than this." Fitz said, raising her hand and wrinkling his nose in distaste as he inspected the cheap trinket.

"Fitz," Jemma sighed, snuggling further into his side. "For the last time. You are not risking our lives to make me something I don't need."

Fitz grunted in displeasure. "I'm surprised this hasn't turned your bloody finger green."

"I don't even wear it half the time," Jemma said with a contented yawn. She removed her hand from his grasp and brought it to his face, turning it so he was looking directly at her. "After all these years, do you really think we need a physical object to remind us of how we love each other?"

Fitz's eyes softened, as she knew they would. But just as quickly, she could see a glint spring into them. "You really _aren't_ romantic, are you?" he teased.

Jemma gasped, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "How dare you!" In one swift motion, she turned and pinned Fitz to the bed, her calves squeezing his side.

"Take it back."

"I won't."

"Take. It. Back."

"I - ahh, I won't-" Fitz sputtered through Jemma tickling his side. Managing to free one arm, he grabbed her leg and knocked her down so her entire body covered his. Stretching up, body still shaking with laughter, Jemma brought her lips to his and--

_Knock knock._

Again, Jemma gasped, though this time in fear. "That's not the team's knock," she whispered, less than an inch away from Fitz's face.

_Knock. Knock knock knock._

To Jemma's surprise, Fitz grinned. "No, it's not the team." He held up both hands, and silently counted down from ten.

...3, 2, 1...

_Knock knock knock._

"See?" Fitz said, maneuvering Jemma off of him and standing up.

"Um, no?" Jemma said, still in a panicked whisper. She grabbed Fitz's arm as he started towards the door. "Are you crazy?"

"Ooh, you know - I just might be." Fitz opened the door just a crack. "Perfect!"

Jemma couldn't see what he was doing, but Fitz leaned down and quickly picked something up, before backing into the room again and locking the door.

When he turned around, Jemma couldn't help it - her eyes filled with tears.

"Pizza, m'lady?" Fitz opened the box of pizza in his hands, and Jemma giggled. Inside was their traditional Valentine's Day extra cheese pizza - but this time, cut into a heart.

"How did you do this?" Jemma asked. "I told you not to risk our lives for rings, and you risk our lives for a pizza?"

"A heart shaped pizza, thank you very much," Fitz sat next to her on the bed, putting the box aside. "And it's tradition. With everything that's been going on - I just wanted this. With you. Again."

Jemma surged forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and climbing halfway into his lap.

The pizza ended up getting cold - but then again, that was tradition too.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at expecto-cosmos!


End file.
